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SAN DIEGO (CN) — The state of California is continuing its crackdown on the psychoactive plant kratom, filing a new lawsuit against a company in East San Diego County that it claims has continued to manufacture and distribute the banned products.
The California Department of Public Health said Friday it sued Ashlynn Marketing Group, the company behind Krave Kratom, for continuing to manufacture and distribute kratom products despite prior state enforcement.
The Department of Public Health and California Attorney General Rob Bonta are seeking an injunction and fines, saying the company repeatedly violated the state’s ban on kratom and its derivatives, including the psychoactive compound 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, the department saidin a news release.
“[The California Department of Public Health] is pursuing legal action because Ashlynn’s continued manufacture and sale of these products pose a clear and preventable public‑health risk and violates state and federal law,” said Dr. Erica Pan, the department director and state public health officer. “7-OH and kratom-derived products have been associated with addiction, serious health harms, overdose and death.”
The department said that kratom has been linked to hundreds of overdose deaths in California since 2020.
The civil complaint, filed in San Diego Superior Court, says Ashlynn Marketing Group repeatedly interfered with enforcement actions over the past year.
According to the complaint, health department investigators found kratom products being made and sold as food at the company’s facility in Santee in May 2025. Officials embargoed and sealed the products, deeming them unsafe for consumption and illegal under state law.
During a follow-up inspection in October, investigators found the embargoed products had been moved to another location, the tape had been relocated and the quantity of the products could no longer be verified, the complaint says. The department sent a cease-and-desist letter in November.
“Despite the department’s embargo and cease-and-desist directive, defendant has continued to maintain kratom materials and manufacture kratom-containing products at its facility and has interfered with the embargoed materials,” the state plaintiff writes. “On April 9, 2026, department investigators conducted another embargo integrity check at the defendant’s facility. Investigators again observed that embargoed materials had been moved and tampered with.”
During the investigations in October and April, Ashlynn Marketing Group owner Wasem Saliman admitted to continuing to manufacture the products, the complaint says.
The state is seeking a court order that prohibits the manufacture and distribution of kratom food products, court-ordered destruction of the previously embargoed kratom products and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day for the violations.
Kratom is often synthesized and commonly sold as gummies, energy shots and drink mixes and is often available online, at smoke shops and at gas stations, according to the Food and Drug Administration. It has no approved medical use, and both the FDA and the California Department of Public Health advise against using it.
The California Department of Public Health warns kratom can cause severe respiratory depression and death, especially when combined with prescription drugs, alcohol or other substances.
Kratom, an opioid-like substance derived from a plant native to Southeast Asia, occupies a legal gray area in the United States. It is often marketed for pain relief, energy and anxiety, but it is not approved by the FDA and has been banned in several states.
According to the California Department of Public Health, kratom was implicated in 242 deaths in California between 2020 and 2022, 27 of which were solely blamed on the product.
In March, Governor Gavin Newsom’s office announced a 95% compliance rate for the state’s prohibition on Kratom products.
To date, the state says that it has seized more than $5 million in kratom and 7-OH products throughout California and is continuing enforcement actions, including retailer education, inspections and legal actions against companies such as Ashlynn Marketing Group.
Ashlynn Marketing Group is also facing a class action in the U.S. District of Southern California over claims that it misrepresented kratom’s addictive qualities.
Neither Ashlynn Marketing Group nor Saliman responded to requests for comment.
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